Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n. A misheard or misunderstood lyric, which gives the song a completely different meaning than originally intended. v. To misinterpret a song because you "hear" different words than the ones actually being sung.
Verboticisms
Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...
You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.
Ballbadear
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: bahl bad eeeer
Sentence: his hearing loss turned him into a ballbadear, but when he first heard "tangled up in poo" he became a dylanquent
Etymology: balladeer, bad ear
Mystlyrical
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: mist/leer/i/cal
Sentence: One of the funniest mystlyricals I've heard was an interpretation of a line from the Eagles Hotel California 'On a dark desert highway, cool whip in my hair'
Etymology: mystical (secret)+ lyric + missed
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COMMENTS:
It's a lot like verbotomy...You can check out, but you can never leave! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:17:00
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Mangledupinblues
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: mang eld up in bloooze
Sentence: His mangledupinblues were frequent and severe, often leading to bouts of drinking alone in the basement of his hovel, wishing he was back home, awash in his subterrainian homesick booze
Etymology: tangled up in blue, mangled
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COMMENTS:
nice Dylan references - Jabberwocky, 2009-05-05: 11:18:00
Ah the times, they are a chainging! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:12:00
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Mondegreen
Created by: theodrixx
Pronunciation: Mawn-deh-green
Sentence: I discovered a mondegreen just the other day; I heard Jimi Hendrix's lyrics in Purple Haze, "excuse me while I kiss the sky" as being "excuse me while I kiss this guy."
Etymology: Named for an instance of this phenomenon during a reading of a poem, where in the line "and laid him on the green" was heard as "and Lady Mondegreen."
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COMMENTS:
nice one - galwaywegian, 2010-11-17: 18:52:00
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Misunderheard
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: mis-under-herd
Sentence: Grandma shrugged, "You kids today with your hippity-hop and stupid lyrics -- why when I was young we had songs with meaning!" She sighed wistfully and began to sing to herself, "Knock, knock, knocking on Kevin's door." Grandpa stood up, "You've been singing that song wrong for the past 50 years, old woman. It's "Knock, knock knockin' on heaven's door" for crying out loud." "Well, I guess I misunderheard the lyrics, excuuuuuse me. And if you correct me again in front of the grandkids you'll be knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door sooner than you think."
Etymology: misunderstood: improperly understood or interpreted + heard
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COMMENTS:
wonderful word... - mweinmann, 2009-05-05: 08:34:00
I just noticed that you used one of the same song title's in your sentence as I did....only I think Kevin is funnier tha Evan!!! - mweinmann, 2009-05-05: 08:34:00
There's a herd of misunderheard today! Goodjob, mrsk! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:15:00
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Wrongbird
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: rôngbərd
Sentence: Marsha is a regular wrongbird. She and her friends love to go out to the local karaoke bar and sing their hearts out. Often her vanity that prevents her from wearing her glasses combines with her active imagination to create a hysterical new set of lyrics. "Excuse me while I kiss this guy"
Etymology: wrong (not correct or true) + songbird (a bird with a musical song)
Tunerr
Created by: remistram
Pronunciation: toon-air
Sentence: The kids loved it when Mr. Bevilaqua stood up in front of the class and tunerred the national anthem "....Oh Canada, we stand on cars and freeze..."
Etymology: tune (song) + err (misinterpret, distort)
Audiosyncrasy
Created by: ankur
Pronunciation: its quite simple...audio+syncrasy
Sentence: The song he sang was hilarious because of his very own audiosyncrasy..
Etymology: audio = hearing idiosyncrasy = peculiar habits audiosyncrasy = song was "mis-listened" and peculiar lyrics were inserted into the song...
Misconsturpulate
Created by: hyperborean
Pronunciation: mis-con-sterp-you-layt
Sentence: History Lesson: Dylan didn't want people to misconsturpulate "Subterranean Homesick Blues," so he wrote key lyrics on flash cards and displayed them during the song ... and filmed the whole thing. The music video was born.
Etymology: misconstrue (to misinterpret) + extrapolate (to infer [unknown information] from known information) + my quirky spelling and pronunciation sound funnier
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COMMENTS:
flawless, once again, word, etymology, and as always the sentence - DrWebster111, 2009-05-06: 00:31:00
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Oopsydittie
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: oōpsēditē
Sentence: Everybody was used to hearing Jeff humming his favorite song as he went through his day. What they didn’t know until last Saturday night at the karaoke was that Jeff’s head contained an oopsydittie. As he belted out his fave, his friends realized he hadn’t gotten a single lyric right.
Etymology: oops (used to show recognition of a mistake or minor accident, often as part of an apology) + upsy-daisy (used to express encouragement to a child who has fallen or is being lifted) + dittie (a short simple song)
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by mrskellyscl (misinterpreted words) and by abrakadeborah (misinterpreted meanings). And of course, by Bob Dylan's classic song about doing the laundry -- Blowing in the Wind ~ James
abrakadeborah - 2009-05-05: 01:02:00
Thank you James~ Cartoon was great! & To mrskellyscl,Oh how I can relate to that one! I have an ex boyfriend that no matter what song he hears NONE of the words match as he tries to sing along! Too funny! :) LOL
Today's definition was suggested by mrskellyscl. Thank you mrskellyscl. ~ James